Experience is a valuable resource, one that can only be earned through living. Most businesses will have a number of highly experienced individuals amongst their staff; most managers understand the benefit brought by employees who've built a wealth of knowledge and skills throughout their working life. Just as a successful football team benefits from a mixture of sprightly youngsters of prodigious skill and seasoned veterans of the contest, their reading of the game and ability to deal with situations enhanced by the effects of hundreds of matches, so too can any business gain from such a blend.

The role of a mentor

In your organisation, the more experienced staff shouldn't be expected simply to use their experience to deal with more problematic situations. Treated that way, the resource becomes finite, there only until your longer-term staff retire or leave the company. Far better to make that experience last and keep assisting your company indefinitely, by encouraging your senior employees to pass on the benefits of many years on the job.

A mentoring scheme is simple to establish, and can be a substantial and enduring boon to your business through the years. In linking a mentor with a younger mentee, the former can guide the latter, and help them to find solutions to a range of issues that arise, both in the day-to-day running of the organisation or in their wider career; their experience can help both parties to feel confident that these solutions are the right ones. Of course, the mentor isn't there to make the mentee's decisions for them; instead, the junior figure can make their choices helped by the knowledge imparted to them, whilst the senior oversees and offers feedback.

The mentor/mentee relationship

A mentor should always be able to empathise with the mentee, understanding the situations that the latter faces because they've already been there themselves. This empathy can build trust, encouraging the mentee to be more receptive to the advice he or she is being given. With this bond of trust, the mentor can feel confident in challenging the mentee to explore new opportunities, ideas and issues. Objectives can be formed specific to the individual situation, the mentor providing guidance towards their achievement.

The strength of the relationship, the level of trust and the willingness of both parties to see the worth of the mentoring scheme, all are critical in ensuring that the final outcome is an all-round success. It's important to nurture this relationship with honest feedback and constructive encouragement on the part of the mentor - and for mentors to have the skills that allow the relationship to bear fruit.

Essential skills

Developing a range of skills is vital for the mentor and a short training course can be tremendously beneficial for both sides of the relationship and for the business. They will need to be patient, and allow that any one mentee may need more or less time to develop themselves and their position. They will need to be positive, aware that the mentee may become discouraged and act to remedy this, to keep the mentee optimistic. They will need to be alert to opportunities for coaching, as any limits to the scope for learning now will inhibit the mentee in future situations. Crucially, the mentor must be willing and able to listen; to listen to concerns and doubts, to listen to questions and to suggestions and to ideals, to listen to hopes and plans and ambitions.

We all have experiences in our lives that only we will know. But the learning we gain need not be exclusive. We can share our knowledge and can gain from others sharing their knowledge with us. There is simply no better way to take advantage of such a valuable resource than to institute an organised, trained mentoring scheme, no better way to turn the lessons of the past into progress for the future.